Notable Armstrong alum Herbie Griffin, 91, provided a little history about the southside school during a ceremony at halftime Saturday as the Pirates honored their hall of fame inductees during alumni weekend.

About an hour later, Aric Miller added some more recent history.

The senior guard scored 39 points — an Alumni Arena record — to lead Armstrong Atlantic to an entertaining 90-87 win over South Carolina Aiken.

Miller’s 3-pointer with 24.3 seconds left gave the Pirates a one-point lead, and Antroine Williford’s two free throws 15 seconds later made a three-point advantage.

“It was a must win, if you want to compete (for an East Division championship),” said Armstrong coach Jeremy Luther, whose squad won for the ninth time in its last 12 games and sliced the East Division-leading Pacers’ advantage to 1½ games.

Griffin had a crowd of 899 cheering after reminiscing about Armstrong’s football team back in the 1930s before he sang a few bars of the school’s fight song.

Miller, a transfer from Bethune-Cookman last season who leads the Peach Belt in scoring, was vocal in a different way. He broke the arena record of 36 points scored by North Florida’s Jamaal Williams in a PBC tournament game against USC Aiken on Feb. 21, 1998.

The Armstrong record was 33 points by Daryl Williams against Fayetteville State on Nov. 25, 2003.

Alumni Arena was completed in July 1995.

Miller made 12 of 27 shots from the floor and 13 of 15 from the free-throw line while playing all 40 minutes.

“I was looking to drive, but (Aiken’s) big man had backed down to the free-throw line,” Miller said about the game-winning shot.

Miller’s 39-point game was tied for 10th-best single-game performance in school history.

Just about every point was needed in the wild, wild East shootout. The Pacers (15-6, 11-3 PBC) hit Armstrong with an 18-2 run midway through the first half to build a 34-24 lead with 8:36 left.

Despite Miller’s 24 points, Aiken had a 53-47 advantage at halftime.

But Miller got some scoring help in the second half. J.C. Winn, Williford and Kenny Bellinger II each provided a 3-point play — Winn the old-fashioned way and Williford and Bellinger II banging down threes to tie the game at 59.

Miller had eight points in a 12-2 run that gave the Pirates a 77-69 lead with 9:28 left.

Armstrong still led 81-73 after Eric Eversley’s steal and layup with 6:53 left, but Aiken had one more spurt left. Re’mon Nelson and Santoine Butler had four points apiece in a 12-2 binge to give Aiken an 85-83 advantage with 1:23 left.

Williford tied the game with two free throws with 1:02 to go, but Nelson sank two free throws with 45 seconds left to push the Pacers back in the lead.

During a timeout, Luther drew up a two-man game for Miller and Williford, and Miller drew an advantage on a switch and nailed a straightaway three.

“The season has prepared us for this,” said Luther, whose squad played its fourth consecutive game decided by five points or less. “It’s all about learning from your journey throughout the year.”